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Summary Bullets:
• V-Hub offers a range of online advice help from digital experts to help SMBs and SOHOs make the most of technology to optimize their businesses.
• Vodafone’s V-Hub is proving popular with small business customers and has helped improve its Net Promoter Score by 18 points, providing extra customer lifetime value.
Vodafone’s update on progress with its V-Hub business customer portal was very positive and should be seen as a rare telco success story when targeting the market for smaller business customers. For example, across the countries where V-Hub has been rolled out, Vodafone Business has seen an average NPS (Net Promoter Score) improvement of 18 points since launch.
V-Hub works by offering tailored advice for SMBs and SOHOs about ICT. At the entry level, personalized advice is available for free (across 14 national markets) through a discussion with a ‘digital expert’ (these can be booked in advance, both for customer convenience and for response preparation). The next level (where businesses have signed up for free membership) provides a self-service Q&A-based action plan tailored to small businesses’ needs to recommend actions on how to exploit digital solutions for their advantage. The third piece is an openly available ‘Knowledge Centre’ of information specific to SMBs and practical guides from both Vodafone and its partners. Vodafone has indicated that future V-Hub plans include exploring how GenAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence) can be used to add further value.The goal behind V-Hub is to promote the Vodafone Business brand (please see: B2B Advertising Campaigns Underline Importance of SMB Market – IT Connection (currentanalysis.com)), as well as to engage smaller businesses by offering advice on technology – positioning Vodafone as a trusted advisor. Vodafone is not alone in this ambition as businesses of all sizes struggle to make the most of technology, but it has demonstrated tangible progress – although associated revenue growth is too commercially sensitive to publish. Correctly, Vodafone notes that SMBs have common goals: serve existing customers and grow business. They are only interested in technology when it focuses on these priorities which has been the challenge for telcos and used to selling connectivity. The market has moved on and connectivity is a given (more or less). Enterprises are more interested in things like security, collaboration, online payments, customer management, supply chains, unified communications, sustainability, and so forth. When you are focused on Teams apps, you only think about the network when it fails.
Vodafone noted the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technology and drove demand for the provision of managed services, so the offering of V-Hub positions Vodafone as an alternative to managed service providers (MSP), which is smart as they have been taking share from network service providers as their ‘solutions’ are more tailored to SMBs’ needs.
In addition to forging a better brand perception, V-Hub fosters Vodafone customer ‘stickiness’ and facilitates potential up-selling opportunities. Although V-Hub carries a cost and is not a profit center, Vodafone’s investment delivers returns in terms of associated sales and customer lifetime value.
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